Technical Communication

Lecture 1
 Definition
Type of communication which involves information,
instruction, persuasion and direction for specific audience
through maximum clarity and precision with a tangible
goal in mind
 Purpose

To help others learn about a subject, carry out a task, or make a decision
To reinforce or change attitudes and motivate readers to take action
 What did you learn?

• Technical Communication involves all our receptive and productive skills

• To analyze a problem, find and evaluate evidence, and draw conclusions
• It can be a
• Journal, blog, vlog, email, newsletter, proposal, report, infographics etc
 Challenges in Technical Communication?

• Difficult to create
• Difficult to read
• Difficult to digest
• Difficult to convey
 Characteristics of a Technical Document

• It addresses particular readers (technical, managerial, general)

• It helps readers to solve a problem
• It reflects the organization’s goals and culture
• It is produced collaboratively
• It uses design to increase readability
• It consists of words or images or both
 Measures of Excellence

• Honesty
• Clarity
• Accuracy
• Comprehensiveness
• Accessibility
• Conciseness
• Appropriate Professional Appearance
• Correctness
 Qualities of Skillful Workplace Interlocutors
• Ability to analyze information
• Ability to perform research
• Ability to solve problems
• Ability to speak and write clearly
• Honest
• Willing to learn
• Emotionally intelligent
• Generous
• Self-disciplined
• Prioritize and respond quickly
Analyze Identify
01

04 02

03 Evaluate
Create

Class Activity- Website Analysis

 Feature Application Significance

To catch the attention

Use of pictures On each page
of viewers
 What are your steps?
4
Analyze
3

Discuss
2

Prepare 1

Present
 Ethical Considerations

Ethics is the study of the principles of conduct that

apply to an individual or a group.
 Ethical Obligations to Employer

• Competence & Diligence (working appropriately)

• Generosity (Helping colleagues)
• Honesty of Ideas (No plagiarism)
• Confidentiality of official information
• Loyalty
 Feedback on Website

• Is the purpose clearly stated?

• Is it designed for all types of readers or some specific category?
• Do you find accuracy of the data?
• Is the information concise or detailed?
• Does the website possess readability?
• What about grammatical correctness?
• Do you find clarity in the presented content?
 Audience Analysis
Identify the nature of the audience for the following categories of documents:

Newspapers
Technical Journal
Resume
Internet Chatline
Executive Summary
Graphs
 Paragraph Writing

Write a narrative paragraph on any of your past's visits. How

was your experience? And what did you learn from the visit?
 Factual Paragraph Writing

Rewrite the above paragraph incorporating facts and figures

to make the document appear more impartial and technical
in nature.
 Example

• The EPA has just approved a newly formulated adhesive product manufactured by
Advanced Products, Inc. (Fictitious Name). In addition to recent EPA and EU
approval, this new formula’s characteristics include the ability to withstand
prolonged exposure to moisture, temperature variation and very high foot traffic.
Based on competitive research the new adhesive has characteristics that are not
available from current products on the market. The new formula is “Formaldehyde
Free” and meets all current standards as well as all announced federal standards
through 2016. Current pricing targets include a 25% margin and 12% - 15% price
advantage over current market leader 3M. They now sell limited quantities of the
new product line to current customers who also have wood and laminate floor
manufacturing operations. Products made with this new formula may be exported
to European Union Countries even after the new EU requirements become effective
on January 1st of next year.
 Applying Conciseness

Write a summary of the paragraph which you have just

written making it one third of its length maintaining the
most important points within the summary and removing
the irrelevant details
 Avoid the use of first person

Re check the paragraph to omit the use of I or We for making

the document appear more impartial and generic.
 Assignment# 1

• For this assignment, you are required to research and analyze one
major brand company or organization’s website You will review it
and complete the web site analysis worksheet for each site.
Analysis Item Answer Notes

1. What is the visual impact? How many

human faces are there? Do they use
sketches, cartoons, or photography?

2. Are the images stock photography or

original images?

3. How is the navigation on the website?

What are the first navigational items
that people notice?

4. Is there a clear call to action? Are

there several? How are they
highlighted? Do they use call-to-action
text or a button? If so, how big and what
color?

5. What is the color scheme?

6. What is the best thing about the site?

5. What is the color scheme?

6. What is the best thing about the site?

7. What is the worst thing about the

site?

8. What is the ugliest or least pleasing

visually?

9. What is the overall tone: fun, arty, or

businesslike?

10. What are the top menu items? How

is the latest news highlighted? How
does the website highlight the best
deals?

11. Where do they place their e-mail list

opt-in?
12. Are there social media (Facebook,
Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.) links? If so,
where and which social media sites are
used?

13. Does the website segment the home

page to appeal to the desired target
market(s)?

14. Does the content look fresh or stale?

15. Is there is an e-commerce

component to this website? If so, count
how hard it is to find an item. Count
how many clicks it takes to buy an item.

16. Is the website messaging clear? Is

value clearly communicated? Does
marketing messaging convey value
clearly?

Other items noted: